


Gift of Perfection

by velvet_sometimes



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Animal Form, Animals, Christmas, Drabble Collection, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Holidays, Romance, dog sesshoumaru
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-27
Updated: 2012-04-26
Packaged: 2017-11-04 09:41:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 3,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/392410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/velvet_sometimes/pseuds/velvet_sometimes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kagome is working as an assistant at an animal shelter when a dog catches her eye, and her heart.For Forthright's Christmas Challenge on LiveJournal. *COMPLETED*Nominated in the Dokuga awards for: Best Completed and Best Portrayal - Kagome</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Bark and bite**

Kagome hummed in tune to the old Christmas songs playing from the crackling speaker as she made her rounds; checking the doors on all of the dog cages, and the papers beside them to see when they were last walked.

She was dancing along a bit too by the time she got to the last row, where they kept the largest dogs. Much to their delight, as they all jumped up and barked at her, tails wagging while she crooned at them. All but one that was. He was a huge, white, mixed-breed male the shelter had named Prince. He sat there and looked at her as if she had lost her mind with his large, unblinking, golden eyes.

He acted every bit as regal as his name. It made her smile.

She shimmied in place as she looked over his chart. "Ah. Your due for a walk before I clock out, boy. Why don't we do that now." She smiled at him as she grabbed the leash from the wall beside his door and opened the gate.

He growled at her softly, but didn't move or raise his hackles at all. If anything, he sounded more like a disgruntled old man than a vicious animal.

She laughed at him, beckoning him forward with one hand. "Pah. Come here you big softy. I bet your bark is worse than your bite."

He gave her a look she could easily translate to ' _I'm merely humoring you because you are my ticket to the bathroom_ ' and moved to stand. He shook his shaggy fur out so it fell in its proper place before padding toward her and seating himself before her. She fastened the leash around his neck.

She almost giggled at the aristocratic way he held himself. She would have complimented his posture if he weren't a dog.

Once she had him hooked up, she led him over to the door to the outside run. She was surprised that he didn't react at all to the barking dogs around them. He merely walked beside her without any trouble at all.

They had been standing beside the door while she pulled on her jacket and gloves for about 5 minutes when the door opened and a teenage boy and a little blue heeler mix blew in.

"Cold out there?" she asked with a laugh as the boy jumped up and down in front of her, rubbing his hands together and trying to still his chattering teeth.

"Hey Miss Kagome. If you're going out there, I'd be careful; the snows nice and fluffy, but there's ice under it. I almost broke my neck."

She held the heavy door open and walked out after Prince. "Sure thing, Haru," she called over her shoulder as the door slammed shut.


	2. Chapter 2

**Twirling Stripes**

They trudged through the snow, at a near break neck pace, Prince being large and muscular and unable to feel the cold under all of his fur. She almost slipped twice when he bounded over a large drift, and laughed when she finally did. Landing face first in the slush.

The large dog ahead of her turned slightly to look at her out of the corner or his eye and swished his long tail in her face, brushing snow off her nose while still making the gesture look unintentional.

"Whoops." She laughed. "Looks like we need to slow down a bit, boy. Haru wasn't kidding about the ice."

She fluffed the fur between his ears as she made her way to her feet, dusting the rest of the snow off her clothing. However as she tried to take a step forward, she felt her foot slide against bare ice where her fall had knocked all the snow away.

In a moment of almost slow motion, she watched as her view of the dog turned to sky and then her vision darkened, till all she could see was falling snow, and twirling stripes of magenta and white.

Faintly, she had heard a crack of impact, but it was distant. And then there was nothing.

She didn't register being warm until she twitched her fingers and felt her gloves running through thick fur.

There was a rumble. Then a howl. It continued until she heard shouting, and then she heard nothing at all.


	3. Chapter 3

**To Give; To Receive**

Kagome laughed into the receiver of the phone. "You're not serious?"

"Really!" the voice crackled back. "Poor boy's been pacing since you were taken away on the stretcher. I think he's worried about you."

"Why do you say that?" she asked with a smile as she flipped a page in her book, glancing out the window she was leaning against to watch the snow fall.

"He's been growling at all of the attendants when they come to try to take him out. You really need to come back; with this kind of behavior, we won't be able to adopt him out. His days in the shelter are already numbered, Kagome; he's been here too long."

Kagome threw off her blanket quickly so she could search out her shoes and her purse. She didn't bother to try and change out of the sweats and T-shirt she had been lounging in. "I'm on my way right now."

"What are you going to do about him?" The voice was worried. If Kagome knew her, she was biting her fingernails while glancing down at the dog's cage; Naomi hated when an animal had to be put to sleep.

She was quiet for a moment as she pulled on her running shoes without pausing to untie them. "To give is to receive," she mumbled, reciting an old lesson her grandfather had taught her when she was young.

In a rash decision, she spoke. "I'm going to take him home with me. Get the papers ready, I'll be there in 20 minutes."


	4. Chapter 4

**Bells Ring**

She crouched down in front of Prince's cage, and when he had spotted her, he stood up to stick his muzzle out of the bars to lick at her fingers. Even letting his tail wag softly, though he acted as if it wasn't.

"Hey boy, I have a question for you." She smiled softly at him when he raised his eyes to meet hers. "How would you like to come home with me? You'd have the whole shrine to yourself. Plenty of room to play and a real home. "

As she spoke, she held up an old red leather collar that had, at one point, had Sakura petals carved into its surface, but it was now so worn that they were merely a thin engraving.

Where the tags went was a simple, old, silver bell.

Leaning forward slightly, he licked the leather, and she smiled, opening the door so she could fasten it around his neck.

She could hear the tinkling of the bell around his throat ringing as he led her to her car in the snow, the collar a bright flash of red in the stark white around them. He blended in with the snow perfectly, and for a moment, she had a feeling that she was merely holding on, and she had something much more powerful at the end of her leash than a simple dog.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hot Chocolate**

Kagome curled up on her couch next to Prince, pulling a blanket over her legs and blowing on her steaming cup of Hot Chocolate.

The large white dog laid his head in her lap, tail tapping against the arm in pleasure when she set her cup down to scratch behind his ears. He was so large that his head took up her entire lap and the rest of him consumed the other 3 cushions of the couch.

It had been almost a month since she had rushed to the shelter in the middle of a snow storm to adopt him. And she wouldn't have been able to take him had she lived anywhere smaller than her family's shrine. Though she was glad she had taken him. Something about him had spoke to her, and she felt she just couldn't leave him.

She leaned down to place a kiss on his nose and he licked at her face, making her laugh. She looked down at him, and almost laughed again at his doggy smirk.

For a brief moment, she could faintly see the shape of a blue moon on his brow, and magenta stripes running down the sides of his muzzle, but they were gone before she could process it, so she merely shrugged it off as a trick of the lighting from the Christmas tree.

Leaning forward to grab the remote, she clicked on ' _How The Grinch Stole Christmas_ ' and snuggled down into his fur to get comfortable.


	6. Chapter 6

**A Sprinkling of Stars**

Prince awoke to his owner sliding around the kitchen in a tiny T-shirt, a pair of too big socks, and some panties. She was belting out some off key Christmas carol while making pancakes.

"Cause I just want you here tonight, holding on to me so tight."

He sat down in the doorway to the living room, his snow white tail dusting over the wood floor as he watched her shimmy and sway her way around the room.

When she noticed him, she swiped a finger though the batter and held it up for him to lick, crooning to him as his tongue bathed her hand to try and get more of it.

"What more can I do, baby all I want for Christmas is you."

He barked happily and jumped around her, his entry in their impromptu dance. The bell around his neck sounded like a sprinkling of stars, tinkling around them in contrary patterns to the music.

She laughed. His claws tapped against the wood. The batter sizzled. The old radio crackled with its song. And their home was an orchestra of life.


	7. Chapter 7

**Warm Hands; Warm Heart**

Sesshoumaru watched the woman who had taken him home. She called him 'Prince' which, though the title was wrong, was close enough to accurate to satisfy him.

She was a strange woman, and treated all of the creatures, magical or not, under her care with the same love and affection. Of course, she didn't really know that her services had extended to animal gods, but she was still strange to have cared for any of them when she didn't have to.

She owned a shrine. It was enough income to support her without spending part of her day at the shelter.

Yet, she did just that. And it was her puzzling nature that had possessed him to save her in the snow that day. So she, in turn, saved him. By taking him home with her instead of leaving him there.

And as he watched her dance around her living room, singing along to Christmas songs while she strung up lights, he realized she just was. Her strange caring extended to every being she came into contact with. From the old woman in the bakery, to the neighborhood cats.

Smiling widely, she came over to ruffle his fur and kiss him on the nose.

She had warm hands… and a warm heart.


	8. Chapter 8

**Deck the Halls**

Sesshomaru snapped to attention when the doorbell rang.

He silently stood and padded to the door to sniff out the intruders, but before he could do anything, his human ran to the door and pulled it open with enough force to have broken something had it actually impacted with the wall.

She then screamed out some names in obvious joy, embracing said people before ushering them inside the shrine house.

Many he recognized from his time in the shelter: Naomi and Haru who worked in the back with all of the creatures. The Sango woman that worked at the front desk, the male vet Miroku, the animal officer Shippo that had brought him to the shelter in the first place.

All of them had brought their respective pets, releasing them into the entrance to sniff around his home and person before rushing to grab boxes of garland and knickknacks that his Kagome had laid out.

As they worked in putting everything up, they all laughed and attempted to sing along, rather off key, to 'Deck the halls'. Which he decided was clearly redundant, as it was exactly what they were doing, and turned his attention to all the creatures they had let loose in his home.

Mostly other dogs. One cat, a fat old calico, that he made sure to growl at in warning. It merely flicked its tail at him and jumped up to set itself on the counter.

All the other dogs took one look at him and went belly up, but he could have cared less about their shows of submission. He wanted all of these beings out of his home and away from his human.

He was fairly nearly distracted with his want to be one of the ones beside her, decorating their home.


	9. Chapter 9

**Wreathed in Smiles**

Sesshomaru had watched in fascination as they brought out different things to hang around the house. The strangest being a wreath of branches, adorned with ribbons and poinsettia. They took that out to hang on the front door.

His Human, Kagome, stopped part way though, looking down at him with a thoughtful look.

Not knowing as to what was preoccupying her thoughts, he merely wagged his tail at her, eliciting a giggle.

She took the wreath and placed it around his neck, and the other humans cooed and laughed about it being the only ornament big enough for him to wear as decoration.

He found it annoying, but deemed it a necessary evil, since it made her smile.

Standing up on his hind legs, he rested his front legs on her shoulders and still towered over her. She laughed as she tried to keep her balance while he licked at her face. "Oof. Get off, you big lug."

"But Kags, look above you, Prince is only following tradition," Miroku laughed, pointing up at the door frame.

When they looked up, there was indeed Mistletoe above them in the doorway. And looking back at his Kagome's smiling face, Sesshomaru had a satisfying thought: _He was wreathed in branches, but she was wreathed in smiles._


	10. Chapter 10

**Merry & Bright**

That next morning Kagome awakened Prince with a shake and an exclamation of "Its Christmas morning, Prince! Come on, come on! Everyone left their gifts here last night so we could open them."

Quickly climbing to his feet, he jumped off the bed and followed her to the living room, where the space under the tree was littered with brightly wrapped boxes in varying colors and prints.

Kagome rushed forward, dropping to her knees in front of the tree to pick up packages.

Placing a badly wrapped, lumpy shaped one in front of him, she said. "Here Prince, that one is from Mr. Shippo. Go on, dig into it."

So he did, using fangs and claws to shred the paper with ease. He was delighted to find a stuffed frog inside, and when he bit into it particularly viciously, it let out a pained squeak.

There were a few other things for him in the pile. New food dishes, a leather leash, a pack of homemade dog treats.

And as she hooked him up on his new leash to go for a run in the snow, his world was merry and bright.


	11. Chapter 11

**Jingle All the Way**

Kagome had decided to take him through some of the old trails around the shrine for his walk, and even though there was a heavy layer of snow on the ground, her Prince was having the time of his life. He bounded through snow banks and sniffing everything along their path.

Kagome on the other hand, was fascinated by the beauty of it all. The white snow on black bark. His strong, streamlined form plowing though the piles of slush while not disturbing a thing. Frankly, she couldn't tell where his fur ended and the snow began.

It was eerie, like he was a ghost of some sort. Even his bark sounded distant in the snow.

Slowly, almost hazy in the now falling snow, she watched his bright red leash fall to the ground without the slightest feeling and he was gone from her sight, as if he was never attached to it at all. Invisible in the whiteness that surrounded them.

All she could hear was laughter and his bell jingling all the way.


	12. Chapter 12

**Flakes Flutter**

Flakes fluttered down around her and she stood there, looking around. His red leash, sans the collar, in one hand as she called out for him.

"Prince? Prince! Where are you boy?"

She kept trying to tell herself that the laughter she was hearing was just the wind, and the ringing of his bell was not.

"Prince!" Her voice was growing frantic. "Come here Prince!" The snow was whipping around her now, lifting her hair and pulling at her clothing. And she completely stilled when she heard the jingle of his bell right behind her, followed by a whispered voice what sounded more like the howling of the wind.

"I've not left, Kagome. I've merely changed. Changed for you."

Her head whipped around, and she was faced with nothing more than blinding snow. Then she felt clawed fingers, cold as ice on her chin, pulling her head forward again.

This time the snow formed itself into a face that was just as cold as the ice it was made of, with the moon and stripes she remembered, shocking against the whiteness. He was pale and beautiful and completely bare from ear to toe, yet unfeeling of the chill. What caught her eye though, was the bright red collar around his neck, adorned with a delicate silver bell that she knew so well.

Reaching forward hesitantly, she flicked it with a gloved finger, and it resulted in the same tinkle she remembered. The sound of it made her eyes snap up to his.

He laughed, and it was the wind, before swiping his tongue up the length of her face with a toothy smile that made her heart thump in recognition.

"Yama-Inu," she whispered in awe as she brought a hand up to touch his face. It was as cold as ice and chilled her to the bone. "The Fearsome Dog of the Mountain."

He nodded. "You never knew you where saving a god did you?" His hair, long and flowing, circled around them as his hands grasped hers and all vision was lost to the bright whiteness.


End file.
